trust

This blog post isn't about what happened. It's about the thing that happened next - after the first thing had happened. Confused? Hang in there; allow me to explain. This is important because there are critical lessons here for all of us using social media for business.

Ah, our Facebook friends. Some we can't live without and, well, then there are those other ones. It is the latter group that I'm focusing on today. We all know people like this, right?The chatty co-worker, the family member who can't keep a secret, that pretty girl you sat next to in junior high school. Wait a minute...if we all know people like this, is it possible that you might be one of those people, too?

Social media is all the rage. All the cool kids are using it; at least, that's what the cool kids on the internet are telling us. The number of businesses on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, and YouTube is mind-boggling, but the real question is how many of them are using the tools wisely?

Today's post is written specifically for those responsible for managing a Group on Facebook. Facebook Groups don't get as much buzz as Facebook Profiles (soon to be known as Timelines) and Facebook Pages. Still, there are many wonderful uses for Groups. I belong to many, including some business, community or family related. Serving as an Admin of a Facebook Group can be incredibly easy or a huge time commitment, depending on the size of the group and how closely the group's content is moderated.

If you're a Facebook user, you've probably noticed a lot of changes, especially on the homepage where you see updates from your Facebook friends. What you may not have noticed are the significant updates in how you manage your privacy, along with other new features and changes. Facebook is a wonderful tool for connecting with family and friends, as well as your favorite brands and businesses. In order to get the most out of your time on Facebook and to use it safely, it is critical that you understand how it works and how you can customize your settings in a way that is comfortable for you.

I spend way too much time online, most of it on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or LinkedIn. While you may not spend the hours online as I do, admit it, you are online a lot. My question to you is a simple one:
How well do you really know your virtual connections?

Oh, how I love LinkedIn! I often speak and write about LinkedIn, as well as provide a great deal of training to help others get the most out of the most powerful professional networking site online. As much as I also adore Twitter and Facebook, LinkedIn is still the one place to get started building your brand and career online.

In addition to the wonderful feedback to my post last week about 3 Mistakes You're Making Online, I also received questions about my third point - using Google Alerts to monitor your reputation online. While I know throngs of hyper-connected people for whom using Google Alerts is second nature, the fact is that this is a new tool for many people.

Everybody uses Facebook differently. Just like all of social media, there is no one right way to use it. Still, I'm often asked how I use it. One of the common questions about Facebook concerns friend requests. How to choose which to accept and which to ignore?

The email I received from Gina had a very simple subject line: "Hello." The body of the email was also simple, just a link without any other text. Ugh; spam. I knew immediately what had happened. Somewhere, she had clicked on a malicious link and all of her contacts received the same email.